 Prime Minister Hon. Alan Shastney delivered a strong message about the challenges and opportunities of the COVID-19 pandemic, as he participated in the Clinton Global Initiative panel discussion on Monday 21 September 2020, moderated by former U.S. President Bill Clinton under the theme, Building Back Greener, Renewable Energy and Sustainable Tourism. The two-part panel discussion event premiered to thousands worldwide and featured Barbados Prime Minister Mia Motley in the first discussion about adopting greener solutions, and Prime Minister Shastney, joint president and CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council, Gloria Guerra, and Karakum Secretary General Ambassador Irwin LaRouk, discussing tourism in the Caribbean in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the shared need to protect people across the Caribbean while reimagining their region's primary economic driver. Prime Minister Hon. Alan Shastney started the discussion by giving an overview of St. Lucia's COVID-19 response and highlighted how the success at managing the pandemic well came with major economic outfall. Therefore, a move to reopen the tourism sector was paramount to help jumpstart the economy while protecting the delicate balance between lives and livelihoods. As of recent, St. Lucia has been lauded internationally for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the successful reopening of the tourism sector. Prime Minister Shastney continues to advocate for a pre-testing policy internationally to see a rebound in international travel which will ultimately augur well for the entire air travel industry. St. Lucia has been with some of the other islands in the Caribbean advocating that the airline industry take up the challenge of pre-testing persons globally before they travel. We have to see a recovery of the hotel or travel industry, not just for the Caribbean, but globally. And the fact is that people do not feel comfortable traveling. We've not put in the necessary protocols to give them that comfort. After 9-11, the TSA and other security agencies around the world did a fantastic job of developing protocols that regained the public's confidence to travel. And sadly, with this pandemic, we have not done that. We've had no depths and we have been open for business. So we've shown that you can coexist with COVID. And to your point of being an incubator for the rest of the world, we've done it. If we can learn from the lessons of the Caribbean, start applying them across the board. President and CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council, Gloria Gareva, echoed Prime Minister Shastney's sentiments on an international pre-testing policy but asked for an alignment in protocol from CARICOM territories to ensure a stronger voice on the international travel landscape. And I love what the Prime Minister said and I couldn't agree more. WTTC represents the global private sector, a little bit over 200 CEOs around the world are our members. We have had the honor of hosting you, President, in the past. And I couldn't agree more. What we need right now, and that's what WTTC is working with governments, is an international testing protocol. We need to test before departure and we need to resume international travel. As the Prime Minister said, yes, we can coexist. But my request now that I have the Prime Minister here, if I may, it would be wonderful if the Caribbean at the same time can get an alignment because within the multiple islands and beautiful countries that we have in that region of the world, we also have different opinions and not a clear alignment. Prime Minister Shastney and his closing remarks made a plea to international bodies to consider the Caribbean and to make room at the table for the region to be part of discussion with regards to SIDS and navigating crises like this ongoing pandemic. All we're asking for is to help, to help ourselves. All I want is a fair, level playing field that allows us to compete on a global basis. And I think that all of us will prosper. You can do that. And as I said to the Caribbean, it's showing where it came to climate change. We've had to find ways to it. But sadly, the global economic architecture that you were making reference to the rules that we're forced to engage in are unfair. The shifting economic landscape offers both challenges and opportunities for a greener, more inclusive and resilient economic and public health recovery. Say, Lucia and the rest of the region continues to chart the way forward and is quickly becoming an ideal model on the international landscape to hopefully be mirrored by other countries with regards to travel, tourism and coexisting with COVID. Reporting for the Office of the Prime Minister, I am Danielle Dubois.